Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Archives for May 2010

Are you building in time for contemplation?

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One of the unfortunate byproducts of our continually accelerating internet and information age – especially now that we have a dizzying array of devices to connect and be always-on – is how challenging it is to take time away for something we all take for granted: contemplation.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) published this article about a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) survey that showed, ”people in professional services (consultants, investment bankers, accountants, lawyers, IT, and the like) simply expected to make work their top priority. They believe an “always on” ethic is essential if they and their firms are to succeed in the global marketplace.”

I feel their pain since I’m absolutely “always on” and “always connected,” often feeling guilty if I’m not working or putzing around on some project. You probably are doing this too since it’s likely you’re at home in the evening, or on weekends, preparing presentations, reading journals, checking email, and performing other tasks that are probably easier to accomplish when other workday distractions are at a minimum.

BCG also discovered in that study that, ”94% of 1,000 such professionals said they put in 50 or more hours a week, with nearly half that group turning in more than 65 hours a week. That doesn’t include the 20 to 25 hours a week most of them spend monitoring their BlackBerrys while outside the office. These individuals further say they almost always respond within an hour of receiving a message from a colleague or a client.”

Whoa. That means that these consultants are, practically speaking, always working. The problem with that sort of response time too is an growing expectation that people will be paying attention to their turned on and connected devices, able to receive a notification of a message, and are willing and eager to get back to us and BCG’s consultants were suffering from significant (and increasing) stress related to being seemingly “on call” constantly.

Is this the sort of future workplace behaviors we want for ourselves and our children in what is becoming an always connected world? …  [Read More…]

ReliaCloud Releases Partner Program

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ReliaCloud, our own local (but national) cloud computing infrastructure company, has launched a full fledged channel program centered on their enterprise-class infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) cloud computing offering.

According to Reliacloud, the five year growth outlook for IT cloud services revenue from 2009 to 2013 remains strong, with an annual growth rate of 26% – over six times the rate of traditional IT offerings (IDC, September 2009).

If you’re paying attention to cloud computing at all, then you can’t help but see that enterprise and small business IT spending is moving more and more to the cloud due to its easier set up, scalability, flexibility, built-in maintenance and support, and reduced costs for hardware and software maintenance.

ReliaCloud is focusing on making the reseller process as easy as possible, by providing a suite of tools that supports their resale process. ReliaCloud has developed a series of programs that maximize the use of their Cloud Storage and Cloud Servers for each of their customer profiles and, according to Brian Stevenson, Vice President of Sales for ReliaCloud, “We expect IT consulting firms and managed service providers to be the driving force of cloud adoption.”

I couldn’t agree more. Isn’t aligning incentives of others to leverage what you offer the basis of building an ecosystem? Great partnering is what made Microsoft so dominant for so many years and it’s obvious that ReliaCloud understands that making it easy for providers to build a business atop, around and with them will gain significant momentum for what they’re offering, and if the growth in cloud computing continues like IDC states (and which I believe is true) then striving to build and deliver — through as many channels as possible — an infrastructure layer upon which people can build toward that growing future, the more likely it is ReliaCloud will become a significant player in the space.

During a session at the recent Cloudcamp George Reese, CTO of cloud computing firm enStratus, laid out the layers of the cloud: SaaS; PaaS and IaaS. Think of SaaS as the layer where Salesforce.com plays (i.e., application layer); PaaS as the layer where companies expose their application programming interfaces to functionality others can use (e.g., AppEngine from Google and Force.com from SalesForce); and IaaS as the layer of hardware and administrative, policy-based services, internet connectivity and stuff that allows the other two to run (IaaS is sometimes known as Hardware as a Service or HaaS).

Nothing is more important than the IaaS layer since without speed, rock solid storage and a robust platform, the other two layers can’t function. With this new partner program at ReliaCloud, they’ll have a good shot at differentiating themselves from other providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Rackspace due to their focus on customer service which they’re carrying over from Visi and the learning they’ve gained from their direct client interactions at ReliaCloud.

Strong Community of Innovation In Attendance at Minnebar

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Saturday saw another Minnebar come and go at the sprawling (OK, really big) Best Buy campus. Boasting over 900 who’d signed up for the event, it appeared to the Minnov8 Gang that there were roughly 500 or so people in attendance which still made it the biggest Minnebar yet and the largest Barcamp event of its kind in North America. Ben Edwards and Luke Francl continue to raise the bar (easy pun) for these events.

Founders Ben Edwards & Luke Francl address the crowd at Minnebar

It was a good thing there was plenty of room. The session list was chocked full of a diversity of topics. What struck many of the attendees, myself included, was the challenge of deciding what session to attend…I always feel like I might miss something. That, and the inability to meet more than a handful of people who’d carved out a Saturday to attend, makes Minnebar a venue that will surely continue to grow and solidify its place as the premiere event for entrepreneurs and startups in Minnesota.

Sessions were all relatively well attended and ranged in adherence to the Barcamp-unconference expectations. Some were very engaging and some were straight ahead presentations…and those “presos” resulted in a less than stellar 40 minutes of time spent. Then again, that’s the fun, and risk, of the unconference style.

Steve Borsch w/Chief Inspector Robert Stephens

Fellow Minnov8er, Steve Borsch noted of defacto host Best Buy executive Robert Stephens, Chief Inspector of the Geek Squad, as “…passionate believer in entrepreneurship and a steadfast supporter of the Minnesota startup community. It was a delight to see him totally immersed in sessions, more than willing to talk to anyone willing to engage in conversation with him, and demonstrated Best Buy’s commitment to innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit simply by acting as a catalyst for this Minnebar.”

Our own Graeme Thickins added, “We need that — more big players who get it!  It’s heartening to know that so many people at Best Buy realize that new innovation often comes from the small companies, the startup teams, the individual developers. Robert had just gotten back from the huge Google IO event in the Valley, and wanted to talk about Google TV and all that. But he was also fired up to talk about ideas and technologies going on right here. It’s impressive that he and so many others dedicated a Saturday to talk about ways we can make tech in MN stronger.”

Mykl Roventine leading his web session

For one writer to try to indicate the highlights and lowlights would be pointless. No one person could truly appreciate all of the sessions. Minnov8er  Tim Elliot points out, “As we recounted in our podcast recorded at the event, MinneBar this year was quite varied than in past years…” He goes on to note topics like, “…web innovation, design, application development or social media.” Tim also said, “Mobile technology was a theme that ran through many of the sessions with iPhone, Android and iPad applications being featured on stage and in the audience as participants tweeted the proceedings.”

The real take away is the simple fact that the Minnesota innovation community continues to grow, it continues to draw energy from itself and those involved…and there is no sign of that letting up.

Graeme summed his experience up in one tweet, “..best evah!“

Minnov8 Gang 80: Minne-this, Minne-that

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This week’s show comes to you from Minnebar 2010 held at the headquarters of Best Buy. We talk about Thursday’s MOJO MN event, Friday’s Social Media Breakfast and Saturday’s Minnebar. Huge turnout (no final count but at least 500 were there) and big thanks to Best Buy’s Geek Squad Chief Inspector, Robert Stephens, who made this such a smashing success and, of course, to the herculean efforts of event visionaries and organizers Ben Edwards and Luke Francl.

Show Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins, Phil Wilson, and our guest Erik Blakkestad.

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The Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 26:29 — 16.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

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Best Buy Announces Movies & TV Online

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With the acceleration of online movie and TV show distribution from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Apple along with on-demand access from cable company services, it was inevitable that Best Buy would get in to this online distribution business.

Best Buy Co. Inc today announced the availability of its new digital video service CinemaNow which will provide customers same-day instant access to new release movies and TV shows.

This month the service will be available on the CinemaNow website, but also with internet connected BluRay players. Netflix has been delivered on these devices (as well as the Roku box, internet connected HDTVs and more) but Best Buy is in a highly unique position with consumer electronic manufacturers.

Add to that their ability to explain to consumers how to use the service, Geek Squad ‘officers’ to set it all up in the home, and the potential to begin to reallocate the sheer square footage devoted to merchandising TVs and movies on DVD/BluRay discs.and you can see why this is of such strategic importance to Best Buy.

The full press release is after the jump. …  [Read More…]

Minnov8 Gang 79: The Facebookers

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The Facebook privacy controversy continues to heat up. In fact, as of May 2010, the Better Business Bureau gave Facebook a D rating, stating “We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.” To bring another perspective in to the podcast, our guest this week is Tom Borgerding, CEO of Campus Media Group, an organization that assists brands with leveraging Facebook and other new media.

Show Hosts: Steve Borsch, Tim Elliott, Graeme Thickins and Phil Wilson.
Music by Kahuna Kawentzmann w/tune, “Late Bird” from podsafe Music Alley.
Modified image based on the James Bond 007 knockoff from the 1960s, the Matt Helm movies series starring Dean Martin.

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The Podcast

Podcast (m8-audio): Download (Duration: 1:07:49 — 41.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:49 — 41.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

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Links discussed during the show:

MHTA Angel Tax Credit Panel

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Join MHTA on Monday, May 24 at the ADC Auditorium for MHTA’s Angel Tax Credit Panel.

Registration:  7:30 a.m.
Program:  8:00 – 9:30 a.m.

The Angel Tax Credit Panel will feature an outstanding line-up of panelists who will discuss the recently enacted 25% tax credit for angel investors who invest in Minnesota high tech start-up companies.

  • Dan McElroy, Commissioner, MN Department of Employment and Economic Development
  • John Alexander, Chairman, Twin Cities Angels
  • Dan Mallin, Co-founder, Minnesota Cup & Managing Partner, Magnet 360 (and Co-chair of the Science & Technology Economic Development Project Task Force last fall)
  • Jay Hare, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Moderator:  Joy Lindsay, President, StarTec Investments and chair, MHTA board of directors

The cost for this event is only $25 and free for start-up companies. Start-up companies can indicate their status by selecting “start-up company” on the registration page.

This event is being co-presented by the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, MN Nano and the Minnesota Cup.

Web Innovation Is Everywhere in Minnesota – Even In an Ice Cream Shop!

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A small retailer in St. Paul that’s obsessed with serving its customers has introduced an innovative new convenience for them that would shame even the largest retail giant — and it’s been no less than a year in the making.  Izzy’s Ice Cream in St. Paul today announced a service that delivers real-time updates to its loyal customers about ice cream flavors currently being served in-store via its web site, Facebook and Twitter pages, and email updates.

It’s called “Izzy’s Flavor Up!” and it essentially allows customers to subscribe to their favorite ice cream flavors. Current flavors are updated every three minutes on its “flavor grid” web page.

With web site design and technology assistance from Bloomington MN-based The Nerdery (aka Sierra Bravo), Rogers MN-based RFID firm AbeTech, and CA-based tech vendor Phoenix Technologies, Izzy’s Ice Cream is now tagging all its 90+ flavors of ice cream in-store with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.  Each flavor’s tub is tagged with a unique code that’s automatically scanned when placed in the dipping cabinet.

What it means for an ice cream lover is nothing less than nirvana. Customers can now know, with absolute certainty anytime around the clock, which flavors are available in-store. When new flavors are removed from or added to the dipping cabinet, Izzy’s web site, Facebook and Twitter pages will automatically be updated, alerting fans to the latest changes. Customers can sign up for email alerts for their favorite flavors – so they’ll always know when their favorite Hot Brown Sugar, Soy Peanut Butter, or Peace Coffee ice cream is available. My buddy Al Maruggi told me today that Izzy’s has the best coconut ice cream in the Twin Cities, too, as he licked a sample thereof.

We also learned that SMS or text updates are on the way, if you’d rather get your alerts that way.  In-store customers can see the technology in action via a large-screen monitor that shows which flavors are now being scooped.

“Our customers are extremely passionate about their favorite flavors of Izzy’s ice cream,” said Jeff Sommers, Izzy’s owner, in a statement. “Their enthusiasm, while motivating me to continue creating delicious flavors, can also prove to be a customer service issue. Before today, our customers had no way of knowing if their favorite flavors were going to be available when they walked through the door.  This system solves that problem and makes it easier for our customers to enjoy their favorite flavors.”  The title of a video that Izzy’s crack PR firm put up on YouTube says it all: “How to Subscribe to Ice Cream.”

The nameplates for each flavor in the store have RFID chips built in, which are then read by antennae anchored in the dipping cabinet. The inventory is automatically updated simply through the act of an employee changing flavors in the dipping cabinet. That act triggers an inventory update, which in turn publishes the current flavors to multiple channels: the in-store screen, Izzy’s website, its Twitter and Facebook pages, and it’s automated emails to subscribers of individual flavors.

Izzy’s isn’t just a retail business. It has a catering business as well, and a wholesale business that has signed up several upscale grocery stores and restaurants throughout the Twin Cities that now offer its products — Kowalski’s, just to name one chain.

Regarding its latest new wrinkle, “This is undoubtedly one of the first uses of RFID as a customer service application,” said the company’s statement.  Izzy’s has a history of embracing new technology, having installed solar panels in 2005.  Owner Jeff Sommers also showed attendees at his media briefing today an innovative new cleaning system he has implemented in Izzy’s kitchen called “Zap Water,” which is an amazingly more environmentally friendly way to maintain a germ-free, allergen-free environment.

Izzy’s gets my vote as a true Minnesota innovator!  Now, excuse me, I’m jumping onto their web site to check if my favorite flavor is still available tonight….

StarTribune: Digital books put on hold at UofMN

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Last Monday Minnov8 contributor, Liz Geil, posted about the UofMN project to have Google digitize many important volumes in the library system. The StarTribune had an article today about the initiative to enable a million University of Minnesota books to be digitally copied by Google under a plan to put the world’s libraries online. But most of the book copies are being locked in an archive, the digital equivalent of gathering dust.

No one will be able to read these digital books — at least for now — because of a five-year-old copyright lawsuit against Google. Five million books at the University of Michigan are threatened with the same fate.

Bummer. Read the entire article here.